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A building planned to tower 3,280 feet above Saudi Arabia is slated to become the tallest building in the world.
Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will be the centerpiece of the planned Kingdom City, a $20 billion development overlooking the Red Sea.
When Kingdom Tower is complete it will dethrone the current “world’s tallest building” title holder, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai. The Burj Khalifa (standing 2,717 ft tall) has only been the world’s tallest since it opened in January 2010.
While both of these record-setting buildings have foundations in the Middle East, both have major ties to the US. Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill designed Kingdom Tower, which will stand 1 kilometer tall and cost $1.2 billion. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill also designed the surrounding Waterfront District within Kingdom City and Missouri-based HOK is responsible for Kingdom City’s overall master plan.
The current record holder, Burj Khalifa, also was designed by Adrian Smith while he was at a different Chicago-based firm, Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Not only was the Burj designed by Americans, a couple of US companies provided materials for the project. Michigan-based Guardian Industries (one of the largest glassmakers in the world) and Greenhek Fan Corporation were both chosen to supply materials for the Burj.
This time around you can bet other US companies will be eager to win contracts for the project. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and chairman of Kingdom Holding Company hired Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) to build Kingdom Tower. However, there are other opportunities. For example, New York-based Thornton Tomasetti recently was chosen as the structural engineer for Kingdom Tower.
Global firms that specialize in building and designing sky scrapers (and other major construction projects) have had to fiercely compete for the limited amount of work available as the world recovers from the recession. Many companies rely on geographic diversity to fill the void. While many markets continue to struggle, others provide some opportunities. The Middle East provides low construction costs and plenty of capital to back projects.
Compare that to the US where construction is expensive. According to the Wall Street Journal, the tallest building being constructed in the US, One World Trade Center in New York, is expected to cost around $3 billion and be 1,776 ft. tall.
For a complete list of the tallest buildings in the world check out the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which keeps a database of super tall buildings and other structures.
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